


The Forgotten

by idrilhadhafang



Series: Demo Reel Continuation [1]
Category: That Guy with the Glasses
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Gen, Implied Incest, Implied Underage, Implied or Off-stage Rape/Non-con, Mind Games, Mindfuck, demo reel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-07
Updated: 2013-02-07
Packaged: 2017-11-28 13:25:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/674884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idrilhadhafang/pseuds/idrilhadhafang
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After being released from SWAG captivity, Donnie is left with disturbing memories as the rest of Demo Reel tries to care for him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Forgotten

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: I don't own shit.
> 
> AUTHOR'S NOTES: Mostly written as a way to cope with bad news I heard about Demo Reel. Only heard, mind you, but it still made me upset. Probably crap, but I mostly wrote it to cope, and flex my writing skills a bit. First time writing in the Demo Reel verse, so I don't know how well I got the voices down, sorry. Mostly tried to reflect their personalities the best I could. 
> 
> And yes, Harvey is supposed to be the Cinema Snob. Thought I'd clear it up, JIC.

To say that things were bad when they got Donnie back was no doubt an understatement; if nothing else, even as Rebecca dragged him in, Tacoma knew that no matter how bad things got (after all, they had survived killer turkeys and derogatory comments from people who thought their recreations would go nowhere -- and to be fair, it wasn't as if they were working with Shakespeare necessarily), things couldn't get worse than that. A few scratches and such were bad enough, and burns, but there was also the matter of what Donnie was muttering.  
  
Even placing Donnie down on a bed, letting Rebecca bathe his forehead with a cloth and reassure him that things were going to be all right, Tacoma could not help but feel, for lack of a better word, really goddamn confused. For one thing, some of Donnie's comments made no sense. For another...well, what was he even talking about? And who was the Executor anyways -- or had he had a run-in with Darth Vader himself out in those woods and didn't want to acknowledge it?  
  
Tacoma was not usually one for violence -- that was Quinn and Carl's places in all this, not his. And yet he knew that if he could run down to SWAG and get his personal revenge on SWAG...this would be a good day indeed.  
  
***  
  
"You couldn't really have been capable of such a selfless act, could you?" That voice. Why the hell did that person sound like some awful Emperor Palpatine imitation? And why the hell was he in some swirly sky-blue void with said awful Palpatine impersonator?  
  
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Donnie said, but even that sounded so weak coming from him. If nothing else, he thought darkly, he wasn't really helping his case with trying to rebut this man.   
  
The imitator blinked. "You don't even remember? You decided to all but sacrifice yourself to save Earth?"  
  
Donnie snorted. "Yeah, sure. Look," he said, "I really think you've got the wrong guy! I mean...I'm not a hero. I'm...some guy who remakes movies for a living. I'm not even that! I'm nothing!"   
  
The imitator (good name for him, Donnie thought. The Imitator. Not the real thing, just The Imitator. Maybe "Gollum" -- that was another good name for him) snorted. "I should have known. You're not the Critic. You're no more than a pale imitation of him."  
  
Long after the Imitator finally left, Donnie lay there now, in that icy blue void, wondering now what his life had become.  
  
***  
  
If nothing else, Rebecca doubted that she'd ever felt more afraid. She had felt fear before -- Uncle Frank was enough evidence of that, the first time he had hurt her. But this...  
  
Donnie was still babbling about something, about a "cinema snob" and "it's not my fault" and something about it...it didn't just hurt or frighten her; it genuinely confused her. What was happening to Donnie, and why couldn't they do something about it?  
  
She didn't know.  
  
The best she could do was at least keep Donnie and the others safe.  
  
***  
It was on the fifth day that Donnie met him -- "Harvey", he called him. It seemed appropriate at least. He wasn't bad-looking, really. Pretty handsome, wearing a black, well-pressed suit and glasses, and looking in all honesty, kind of miserable. Still, he turned to look at Donnie and said, "You doing all right there?"  
  
Donnie snorted. "If by 'all right', you mean really confused, then pretty much, yes."  
  
"You and me both, pal," the man said. "Look -- no need to panic. I'm from the site. I'm here to help you."  
  
"The site?" This was getting even more confusing by the moment.  
  
"You don't know about That Guy With The Glasses Dot Com?"  
  
And even as this man, this new man, recounted the tale of this That Guy With The Glasses and its many deeds, Donnie could not help but be fascinated. Maybe he was in what all but amounted to hell, but it didn't mean hell wasn't at least fascinating.  
  
***  
Day five. Still no response from Donnie. Rebecca sighed, ran a hand through her hair. "He's...he's going to be all right, isn't he, Tacoma?"  
  
"I really don't know," Tacoma said. "Maybe..." He sighed. "Maybe we should get him to the emergency room and let the paramedics -- wait. How are we even going to explain -- oh, forget it. It's not like it's going to help anything."  
  
"Don't talk like that," Rebecca said. "It's going to be fine, Tacoma. Trust me on this."  
  
Silence. In between, Rebecca could hear Donnie mumbling about "Malachite's Hand", and "Ma-Ti" (from CAPTAIN PLANET? He had to be kidding) and "even Nolan would find that ridiculous." Not that she necessarily blamed him. She didn't know what was going on, but she had to be there for Donnie while she still could. And find out what the hell he was talking about, really.  
  
***  
"So, how do we get out of here?"  
  
Harvey shrugged. "Hard to say. Assuming this hasn't morphed into the weirdest version of AMERICAN MCGEE'S ALICE ever and we get attacked by boojums and such..."  
  
Donnie laughed. "We could always do something like that, I guess."  
  
Harvey snorted. "Good luck with that, my friend. The day a good videogame adaptation is made is the day pigs fly."  
  
"I didn't really say 'movie'. Maybe reenactment, at least." Donnie sighed. "God, I should go and write a book about this or something. The tale of Donnie Dupre, the best-worst film remaker who ever lived -- "  
  
"I don't think that's a word, pal."  
  
"Does it really matter?" Donnie said. "I mean...this is, like you said, the weirdest reenactment of AMERICAN MCGEE'S ALICE ever. I think normal words kind of go out the window at this point."  
  
Beat.  
  
"You have a point, pal. Shall we make a break for it?"  
  
"Let's."  
  
***  
  
The problem with all of this, Donnie mused, at least in terms of breaking out, were the fact that everything seemed to be intent on killing them.  
  
Probably didn't help with Gollum lecturing him on the multiple reasons he sucked and why his attempt to overthrow him had failed (but he couldn't have done all this, could he? This couldn't have been him) but it was also the fact that everything seemed to be intent on murdering him. Zombies, shades (at least that's what Harvey called them), and some belligerent literal strawman named Douchey McNitpick (at least, Donnie thought, he had to pity Douchey a bit. Who named their kid Douchey?) were just a few of the bosses. And it didn't help that they were caught in mazes that seemed to be constantly rotating.   
  
When they finally managed to fight their way out, Donnie turned to look at Harvey, gasping through the stitch in his side. "That other me...did he do all those things, well, Douchey said he did?"  
  
Harvey shrugged. "A bit yes, a bit no, really. Sort of a mixed bag. He was complicated, really."  
  
Donnie bit his lip; somehow, there was something about Harvey's voice --  
  
"Those people on That Guy With The Glasses," Donnie said, "Did they trust him?" He didn't know why he was asking this question. He could only conclude it was morbid curiosity.   
  
Harvey sighed. "Kind of a mixed bag, really. I mean...we didn't always trust him. Hell, he turned into a power-hungry dictator one year, and had me exiled. And tried to get us all blown up. Sort of like...if he couldn't be happy, no one could."  
  
Donnie winced. "That's...cold."  
  
Harvey snorted. "You don't say. Anyway, no, we didn't always trust him. But we did respect him. We wouldn't have gotten where we were if he hadn't...well, started ranting and screaming about the Bat Credit Card in BATMAN AND ROBIN." A slight smile.  
  
Donnie had to laugh if only a bit. Then, "So...now what?"  
  
Harvey shrugged. "Depends. You could go back to being the Nostalgia Critic, or you could go back to being Donnie Dupre. Or both. Your choice."  
  
Donnie paused. On the one hand, people no doubt still needed a Nostalgia Critic. And yet...  
  
"I can't abandon my friends," he said. "Rebecca and Tacoma, at least. And Carl. And Quinn." He smiled if only a bit. "Tacoma...I don't think he really realizes how much I actually care about him. I mean..." He sighed. "I guess I'm a bit crap at showing it."  
  
Harvey snorted. "Guess you and the Critic aren't that different."  
  
"Perhaps. But honestly..." Donnie grinned. "I'm going back home."  
  
"Sounds good. Two things though."  
  
"Sure."  
  
"Come and see us sometime. Seriously; we could use more members. And have a damn good life, Donnie. Do that for me, okay?"  
  
Donnie swallowed; somehow, it felt difficult. "I will."  
  
And he stepped through the door that would lead him back to the real world, and back towards freedom.  
  
It was back in the real world that he greeted Tacoma and Rebecca again, hugging them harder than he should (he was still going to need to recover from that beating SWAG gave him, Tacoma said) and recounting everything he'd seen. There was still a lot to do -- join this That Guy With The Glasses, for one thing. And then there was the matter of their projects and the Executor fellow. Was he just some bad dream or --  
  
Donnie didn't know. But with Tacoma and the others at his side, he was ready for whatever came his way.


End file.
